You will join the DBDIrl research group, and work in collaboration with the specialists (PhD and Postdocs) in History, Digital Data Archives and Linked Data as well as other PhD students and Postdoctoral fellows in the Software System research group, working on model driven development, service oriented computing, Formal Methods, AI and data science, and Security and privacy. The co-supervisors are affiliated with Lero (www.lero.ie) and the HRI (https://www.ul.ie/hri/), various group members are affiliated with Confirm (https://confirm.ie), the ALECS EU Co-fund programme (https://alecs.lero.ie), and the CRT in AI (http://crt-ai.cs.ucc.ie).

CS Background and Goals: The data management of curated digital data collections, and in particular big data, in the digital humanities is emerging as a powerful tool to make these data available to a much wider range of researchers, policy and decision makers, and general users. To make this happen, digital platforms need to be simple to use and to change, secure and efficient to use, respect the evolving data protection and legal frameworks, and have the ability to evolve and interconnect with new, heterogeneous data collections and analysis capabilities that are unknown at the conception time.

For this new paradigm to enter mainstream, models need to be coupled with automatic transformations, generations, and analyses that take advantage of the formalized knowledge about the immaterial and material entities, and the individuals involved in the research. This formalized knowledge includes a variety of models together with Domain Specific Languages that use semantic types at their core.

In this project, the CS team researches the underlying software and system-level challenges, and builds demonstrators of how the new thinking can disrupt the status quo but empower a better understanding. This is achieved by offering a more efficient organization and a more automated management of the many cross-dimensional issues that future digital humanities platforms - with big data, connected software and systems - will depend upon.

This project is an interfaculty project between the faculties of Science & Engineering and Arts Humanities & Social Sciences

MARLSITES is a joint project between University of Limerick and University College Dublin in Ireland. This project will investigate, review and evaluate forest establishment and management practices and protocols on high pH and marl sites with a view to proposing improvements that would increase forest productivity and help ensure sustainability. The study will aim to inform policy and establishment practices on these sites. The project is funded by the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (DAFM) in Ireland.

Two Masters projects will be funded as part of this research, as follows:
MSc 1. Soil properties influencing forest growth and development on high pH and marl sites. The student will investigate soil properties at a range of study sites on high pH and marl sites. This MSc will be based at the University of Limerick and will be supervised by Dr Ken Byrne (University of Limerick) and Dr Thomas Cummins (University College Dublin).

Applications are sought from highly motivated individuals who have a good academic record in forestry, soil science, environmental science, natural resource management or closely related disciplines.

Funding/Stipend

Scholarship will be €24,000 per annum for two years. After a contribution to tuition fees have been deducted (€6,000 for EU students in 2019/20), the remainder of the scholarship will be paid monthly as a tax-free stipend.

Applicants should submit, by email a letter outlining why they are interested in the research topic, their suitability for the position, a full curriculum vitae (including the names, addresses and emails of two referees) to: Dr Ken Byrne (ken.byrne@ul.ie). Queries about either of the two positions may be sent to Dr Byrne.

Macroalgal proteins represent interesting, but as yet, relatively unexplored sources of high quality plant-derived proteins with significant bio- and technofunctional potential. The BioDulse project, which is funded by Enterprise Ireland through the Disruptive Technologies Innovation Fund consists of a multidisciplinary team of academic and industry partners. This project is focused on extracting, characterising and ultimately developing food ingredient applications for the proteins from the red seaweed species, Palmaria palmata. A detailed understanding of the physicochemical, and both the bio- and technofunctional characteristics of P. palmata proteins and their enzymatic hydrolysates is required in order to optimise their food ingredient potential. This project aims to study the bio- and technofunctional properties of P. palmata proteins and their hydrolysates. The project will involve exposure to a range of protein science/chemistry, technofunctional and in vitro bioactivity assessment techniques during the extraction and characterisation of macroalgal proteins and their hydrolysates.The increasing consumer demand and a rapidly growing global population highlights the need to find sustainable alternative food protein sources. Macroalgae, or seaweed, has been consumed throughout the world for centuries.

The successful candidate will support a project funded by the Lifes2good Foundation in conjunction with Connacht Rugby.

Data on youth rugby players in the province of Connacht suggest that dropout is particularly severe between the ages of 16 and 20 years. Continued participation in sport at this age is viewed as an important avenue to promote physical, mental and social health. Decisions about sport participation arise from the complex interaction of a broad range of factors. Although some of these factors are likely to underpin continued participation irrespective of context (e.g., enjoyment; quality relationships), context-specific investigations are required to identify the specific barriers to and sources of support for continued participation. The project will examine ways in which Connacht Rugby could support the underage player pathway to better facilitate the playing experience, reduce drop out and ultimately see more players continuing to adulthood as participants in rugby at all levels.

Energy systems around the world are currently undergoing two simultaneous and radical transformations; the electrification of transport and the decarbonisation of the electricity grids. Likewise, there are highly ambitious aspirations at a policy level to transition from a linear economy to a circular economy and in particular in the area of critical raw materials where recycling rates are very low and for which Europe is dependent on largely single sources which are considered to be a supply risk. This project is at the nexus of these challenges. It will undertake a detailed scientific, technical and economic analysis into how the batteries of end-of-life electric vehicles can be repurposed as stationary batteries to support the greater integration of renewable electricity in electric grids. This incorporates forecasting the availability of storage capacity based on quantitative projections of electric vehicles reaching end of life, testing of business models for their use in grid applications, a physical model as to how the batteries will perform over the necessary extended lifecycles in these business models, and recommendations on ELV treatment standards to facilitate the opportunity. The project will deliver an evidential basis for policy makers to support their planning for the coming energy, transport and circular economy transitions that are necessary in the pursuit of EU targets and the UN Sustainable Development Goals.

Stipend of €16,000 tax-free per annum, EU tuition fees covered. Non-EU students may have to pay balance of full fees.

Contact & How to Apply

A CV, University transcripts, 2 academic references and a letter of application indicating why you think your skills and experience meet the requirement for the project. For Further Details, please contact via email Professor Paul Murray paul.murray@ul.i

Additional Information

The majority of B cell malignancies arise within the germinal centre, a stage of B cell differentiation associated with significant genetic instability. The Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) is a human herpesvirus that can colonise germinal centre B cells as part of its natural life cycle in the asymptomatic host. However, EBV is associated with the development of germinal centre derived B cell malignancies.

This project seeks to unravel the contribution of EBV and its latent genes to the pathogenesis of germinal centre derived tumours using new models of disease to understand how EBV co-operates with other cellular mutations. There will be opportunities for study in other laboratories abroad as part of this studentship, including research groups at the University of Birmingham and the University of Cambridge.

Stipend of €16,000 tax-free per annum, EU tuition fees covered. Non-EU students may have to pay balance of full fees.

Contact & How to Apply

A CV, University transcripts, 2 academic references and a letter of application indicating why you think your skills and experience meet the requirement for the project. For Further Details, please contact via email Professor Paul Murray paul.murray@ul.ie

Additional Information

New approaches to the treatment of Hodgkin lymphoma (HL) are needed to increase survival for patients with resistant or relapsed disease and to reduce the acute and long-term side effects of current therapies that adversely impact on the health and well-being of survivors.
We have shown that Ca+/calmodulin-dependent kinase 1D (CaMK1D), a member of a sub-family of Ca+/calmodulin-dependent protein kinases, is over-expressed in HL. We have generated a series of highly specific CaMK1D inhibitors that inhibit activation of CaMK1D in a dose-dependent manner and we have demonstrated a dose-dependent cytotoxic effect in HL in CAMK1D-overexpressing HL cell lines.

In this project, we will measure the expression and activation of CaMK1D in relation to disease outcomes in HL patients. We will also explore the impact of CaMK1D inhibition on the phenotype of HL cells, including aberrant cellular signalling, in vitro and evaluate the potential therapeutic effects of CaMK1D inhibitors alone and in combination with standard chemo-therapeutics in xenograft models.

The student will receive a broad range of training and there will be opportunities to spend part of the studentship working in the University of Birmingham Cancer Research Centre.